Portugal 0-1 Spain: World Cup 2026 last 16 – live reaction

15 min: Spain put their foot on the ball and pass it around slowly and calmly for the first time today.

14 min: Baena lashes a harmless long-distance shot miles over. Meanwhile he crowd entertain themselves with a Viking Row. It’s Norway’s world these days. “Martinez is the Dr Death of coaches,” argues Ian Copestake. “He ensured Belgium’s golden generation was merely mayonnaise and is happily achieving those culinary heights with Portugal. It is no surprise.”

12 min: Replays show Rodri having a little tug at Ronaldo’s shirt during that passage of play. You’ve seen them given … but it would have been dreadfully soft. Ronaldo isn’t downhearted, though, and races down the right, cutting into the box and shooting from a tight angle. Simon parries around the post, and Spain deal with the resulting corner. But this is a good response by Portugal to that slow start and the Oyarzabal miss that should have put Spain ahead.

10 min: Felix slides a clever little diagonal pass-cross in from the left, winning a corner. The set piece is swung into the mixer, and Ronaldo goes down. Some very loud appeals. The referee is unmoved and play continues. VAR doesn’t seem up for getting involved.

8 min: Olmo slips a cute pass down the inside-left channel for Oyarzabal, who finds himself clear! He gives the impression of someone who thinks he’s offside, and slightly carelessly drags his shot wide right. But the flag doesn’t go up … and replays suggest he was on. Huge chance missed.

7 min: Space for Cancelo down the right. He’s got options either side, but decides to go for goal himself. He aims for the top right. Over the bar. Simon got a feathery touch, so that should be a corner, but it’s not awarded.

5 min: Now Mendes allows a simple pass to clank off his foot, then his shin, and out of play for a Spain throw. All a bit scrappy from the men in red. “I feel Portugal’s failure today could be blamed on Ronaldo in entirety, but I feel that would unfair on him,” begins Farhan. “But I do think Gonzalo Ramos should have started. The problem runs deeper than just Ronaldo. I think Martinez as a manager should be taking some slack here. Joao Neves and Vitinha being PSG’s midfield should have been a class apart from every midfield they have faced in this tournament, which they haven’t necessarily been (except when Uzbekistan came around). Unless Vitinha and Neves match Pedri and Rodri (and whoever subs in) in the middle, Portugal will likely lose this game. We also cannot discount the fact that each of Spain’s forwards can be (more than) decent midfielders too.”

3 min: Oyarzabal has a whack from distance. Straight at Costa. Then a ball out from the back is snaffled by Yamal, though nothing comes of it. Portugal looking a little bit nervous in these (very) early exchanges.

2 min: Yamal clips Neves late. On the touchline, Roberto Martinez, perhaps considering the possibility of this being his last match as Portugal manager, rants and raves. The ref is not fussed. “I have not been following Portugal much but just looking at that team, it looks a little like an England team from a few years ago,” suggests Brendan Large. “It looks like Martinez has gone for the most talented players in a team that doesn’t look like it will work. Joao Felix (everyone knows about the challenges with Ronaldo) is an amazing player but what is he doing in that team? Might be a fun watch though.”

1 min: Simon’s poor pass out from the back is intercepted, and Neto has the chance to release Fernandes down the right. Fortunately for the Spain keeper, the pass is overhit. Goal kick.

Spain get the ball rolling. A wonderful atmosphere inside the home of the Dallas Cowboys.

The teams are out! Portugal are the designated home side, so they’re in their first-choice red. Spain are therefore wearing a change strip of white. And very nice everyone looks as well. A picture of the beloved Diogo Jota up on the big screen as Portugal sing their anthem. Spain don’t sing theirs, but then they can’t: there are no words. An equally passionate moment nonetheless. In a couple of shakes, we’ll be off. “I hope Rafa Lẽao gets more playing time today!” writes Liisa Sletzinger. “I feel I haven’t heard him get much or any buzz? (In the mainstream outlets and ad hoc nature through which I get my daily dose of analyses, to be fair.) I trust a stir in my soul when I feel one though, and in my eyes he’s added a jolt of dynamism and strength matched with skill on the ball, flourish without needless drama, and finishing capability in each match he’s been brought on as a sub.”

Pre-match postbag: CR7 and POTUS fanclub special!!! “I’m in Portugal fanzone in Lisboa. Its hot. And the drinks are expensive for here. Bruno cannot play with Ronaldo. Hopefully it’s the last we see of this egomaniac” – Tim Stappard

“My partner and I are currently spending a week driving through Spain on our way to the Algarve to spend a week with family. I can’t bear the thought of being in Portugal with the preening one still involved, so Spain have to get it done tonight for all our sakes. I suspect that if they do we won’t get any sleep tonight, given the number of very well populated tapas bars around us, but it will be a price worth paying” – Richard Hirst

“You say that this will be Ronaldo’s last game for Portugal if they lose here but he’s a friend of Trump, isn’t he, so perhaps we shouldn’t presume anything in case the President puts in a word before the relevant quarter final” – David Wall

“Fox is completely ignoring Trump’s interference in the Balogan decision. Trump TV agitprop even seeps into their sports coverage” – Mary Waltz

The winner of this tie will face either USA or Belgium on Friday in Inglewood, California. You may have heard a thing or two about today’s other game.

The great pennant showdown. Spain have managed to pull off a feat previously considered almost impossible, by producing a pennant with an even more boring design than England’s. Not sure what we’ll do should the two teams meet in the final. Maybe just quietly drop this feature. Probably for the best all round.

Portugal’s is rather nice, though! This isn’t the one Ronaldo will be handing over to Rodri today, they didn’t take a photo of that, but you get the gist. One of the great recognisable crests. A couple of points docked for lack of edge-cushioning tassels; a sudden gust of wind at the coin toss and you could have someone’s eye out with that.

As briefly touched upon in the preamble, this could be the last time we’ll see Cristiano Ronaldo on the biggest stage of all. “This will be my last World Cup,” the 41-year old living legend announced yesterday, though he quickly demonstrated that he’s not given up raging against the dying of the light quite yet: “God willing tomorrow is not my last game.”

All the Golden Boot talk is currently of Mbappé and Messi, Haaland and Dembélé, Bellingham and Kane. In the meantime, Mikel Oyarzabal modestly goes about his business. Some pre-match reading courtesy of the Good Doctor.

Spain are in If It Ain’t Broke mode. No changes to their starting XI having swept aside Austria.

Cristiano Ronaldo starts and will captain Portugal as usual, despite having been substituted during the 2-1 win over Croatia. Portugal make one change: João Félix comes into the attack at the expense of Rafael Leão, who drops to the bench.

Portugal: Costa, Joao Cancelo, Dias, Veiga, Nuno Mendes, Joao Neves, Vitinha, Pedro Neto, Fernandes, Joao Felix, Ronaldo.
Subs: Jose Sa, Rui Silva, Nelson Semedo, Araujo, Dalot, Inacio, Samu, Matheus Luiz, Silva, Ruben Neves, Goncalo Ramos, Trincao, Leao, Goncalo Guedes, Francisco Conceicao.

Spain: Simon, Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella, Pedri, Rodri, Yamal, Olmo, Baena, Oyarzabal.
Subs: Raya, Joan Garcia, Pubill, Grimaldo, Eric Garcia, Llorente, Merino, Torres, Fabian, Gavi, Pino, Williams, Zubimendi, Munoz, Iglesias.

Referee: Anthony Taylor (England).

This is Spain’s story so far. Cape Verde stunned everyone – not for the last time – by holding one of the pre-tournament favourites to an opening draw. Spain righted the ship with an easy victory over Saudi Arabia, before knocking out Uruguay without too much fuss. Spain topped Group H, pretty much as expected after all.

Then against Austria, a display of football worthy of Spain during their imperial phase of the late 2000s, early 2010s. Mikel Oyarzabal passing the ball into the corner, so easy on the eye.

Here’s how Portugal have done so far. They weren’t particularly impressive in Group K, draws with the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Colombia sandwiching a five-goal rout of a poor Uzbekistan side. But second place was comfortable enough, and Cristiano Ronaldo ended a 10-game sequence of failing to score an international goal, so enough positive boxes were ticked.

Then came the 2-1 thriller with Croatia. The Croats came on strong at the end, yet it was Portugal who got the late winner. Throw in some high-stakes VAR drama at both ends, and four disallowed goals, and it was one of the games of the tournament, unquestionably.

Reacquaint yourself with tonight’s teams. Here’s how it all looked at the start.

The first time Spain played Portugal in a competitive fixture, they beat their Iberian neighbours 9-0. Given that happened in 1934, it’s not that instructive a result, other than a harbinger of Spanish dominance over the long haul: Spain lead by 17 wins to six, or five to one in competitive fixtures. But Portugal won the most recent meaningful showdown, the 2025 Nations League final on penalties, having twice come from behind. So history can teach us everything, or the sum total of nothing, depending on how much weight you attach to it.

There’s probably more useful data in the here and now. Spain started slowly at this World Cup, though that opening draw with Cape Verde doesn’t look so poor in retrospect. But they’re picking up speed, and dazzled in their last match, passing Austria to death. Portugal by contrast haven’t really got going at all: the old trooper Cristiano Ronaldo is weighing them down, some will argue, and yet he’s scored three very useful goals to this point. People on both sides of the argument may as well make peace with it, because it is what it is.

All of which is a long-winded way of saying: Spain go into this match as favourites, when taking both history and current form into the equation … and yet Portugal have that recent Nations League win as succour, and it’s not as though they’re not jam-packed with talent themselves. Throw in the potential swansong for the aforementioned Ronaldo, and this has the makings of a thriller. Excitement and fun, please! Kick-off in Dallas is at 2pm local, 3pm EDT, 8pm BST and 5am AEST. It’s on!